[Block 57C]

The owner of this house was Jeannette (also called Juanita Fourchet in Spanish documents) an African American slave who was freed in Illinois in 1763. She came to St. Louis soon after it was founded in 1764 and was given one of Pierre Laclede's original land grants in 1765. She married an African American blacksmith named Gregory, and they built this poteaux en terre (posts in the earth) French house measuring 20 x 25 feet in 1766. By the time Gregory died in 1770, Jeannette had borne three children. She supported them by working as a laundress, and was remarried in 1773 to a free black gunsmith named Valentine. By the time of her second marriage Jeannette had a personal worth of 1,349 livres and owned a 40 arpent tract of land (one arpent was .85 English acres). Valentine died in 1790, and Jeannette inherited half of their common estate, which included an 80 arpent tract of land, fine walnut beds and armoires. Jeannette died in 1803, leaving her house and property to one of her daughters. This property is today on the grounds of the Gateway Arch, next to the park's service road entrance.

This information was adapted from the research of Judith Gilbert, published in "Esther and Her Sisters: Free Women of Color as Property Owners in Colonial St. Louis, 1765-1803," by Judith A. Gilbert, Gateway Heritage, the Magazine of the Missouri Historical Society, Summer 1996.

The site of Jeanette's house is now located near the service entrance for the Gateway Arch.